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So Christmas is finally upon us! I’ve put together a nice little tabletop scene today so I can show you some of my favourite fun and colourful Christmassy decorations and festive bits and bobs.

If you know me, you’ll know I love anything fun, colourful, silly and kitsch, and I love that more and more fun Christmas decorations pop up every year. Read on to find out where all my festive goodies came from…

Ok so to start with, my Champagne Sequinned Tablecloth was very reasonably priced at £13.99 from – apparently it was reduced from £188 which I find pretty unbelievable! Anyway, I’ve actually picked up quite a few Christmas decorations from Amazon this year, and managed to snag some great bargains. Another one is the Iridescent Metallic Shimmer Curtain (showing hanging in the background) – this was only £3.99 from and well worth it to add a bit of colour and flair to a wall or doorway.

I’m also in love with this luxury Flower Lady Candle which I’ve recently received from . It very much reminds me of my favourite candle brand, Fornasetti, with its pretty face design. The Flower Lady Candle, however is very reasonably priced at £28.00, and has a lovely scent of fresh flowers including notes of red rose petals, cassis, wild berries and galbanum.

I absolutely adore festive floral arrangements, and the selection of Christmas stems, artificial flowers, garlands and wreaths available at Amara this year are just stunning. Wether you’re looking for a more traditional look, or tend to lean toward the eclectic, there’s plenty of choice, and you know that Amara will never let you down in terms of quality.

I have a beautiful Metallic Maple Leaf Stem in champagne silver and a gorgeous Blue Poinsettia – both are pretty large and are perfect for making a grand floral statement!

While I’m talking about Amara, the gorgeous blue and pink gradient in the background also came from them – it’s just so fun and unusual, and of course not forgetting the absolutely bonkers – what could be more festive!? 😀

Another great place for decorations is H&M – have you seen their home section? They have loads of home accessories at reasonable prices. I recently picked up this cute little (you can just see this in front of the cactus) as well as a couple of cute silver and gold .

I also have this fantastic Geo Glass (£14.99 at ) – taking inspiration from modern terrariums with a unique angular shape, this gorgeous drinking glass is made from thick hand blown glass, and can also be used to beautifully display your favourite mini plants!

When it comes to kitsch Christmas decorations, Paperchase is definitely where it’s at. If you love anything fun and colourful and just a bit mad you NEED to get on their site. They currently have a 3 for 2 offer on selected , as well as quite a few other offers on. Go on and take a look – trust me you won’t be disappointed!

Also, don’t forget your local supermarket! I think they’re really upping their game this year in terms of Christmas decor. I picked this Glittery Reindeer up from my local Morrisons for only a couple of pounds, and they also had lots of other fun decorations on offer other than the bog standard tinsel and baubles, which was great to see.

And last but not least – I’ve actually been both busy and unwell of late, and I completely forgot I had this gorgeous giant advent calendar rom Niederegger to tuck into, which takes you right through to the 1st January with an assortment of 40 mini marzipan bites, pralines and truffles! If you haven’t heard of Niederegger, they’re a world famous German brand since 1806 who sell luxury marzipan based confectionary and have a famous café in the city of Lubeck. If you’re a fan of marzipan you should check out some of their other offerings at and various stockists nationwide.

So what do you think? Do you love fun crazy decor like me, or are you more traditional? I’d love to hear what your Christmas Decor style is, and where you pick your decorations up from?

It’s only in recent years that I’ve become a big fan of scented candles. I love how they can transform a room into a welcoming space, evoking feelings of warmth and calm on a chilly day, or how fruity citrus scents can energise and liven up an atmosphere – anyway, I have a few candles to share with you today that I’ve gathered together over the last couple of months. This is quite an eclectic selection both in terms of price and scents so I hope there’s something for everyone here –

Starting with the stunning Fornasetti Fior Di Lina Scented Candle (£140.00 at Amara) – Fornasetti really is the height of luxury when it comes to candles, and one of their latest releases, the Fior Di Lina Scented Candle is a must have for fans of the brand.

Housed in a typical Fornasetti designed casing, the Fior Di Lina candle looks as good as it smells. It features the beautiful enigmatic face of Lina Cavalieri surrounded by flowers and butterflies, and once you’ve finished burning the candle, you can keep the container as a decorative planter that would look stunning in any home. The fragrance is gorgeous as expected, it has a lovely fresh floral scent, with notes of lily, jasmine, and tuberose, and a base of warm sandalwood, and the generously sized 300g candle will burn for up to 60 hours.

Another find from Amara is their own brand A by Amara Sicilian Lemon & Sea Salt Candle (£50.00 at Amara) – still on the pricey side, this luxury scented candle has a beautiful fresh and sparkling citrus scent with a woody base, including notes of Sicilian lemon and sea salt with a base of blonde wood. This A By Amara candle is made from natural wax, with a high 10% perfume content, and it’s housed in a beautiful grey marble finish ceramic vessel, with a gold printed A for Amara Collection on the lid. If you’re a fan of bright citrus scented candles, this is definitely worth a try.

I also have the beautiful Cire Trudon Reggio Candle (£78.00 at and ) – This is my first ever candle from Cire Trudon, and Reggio truly is a stunning scent. With notes of grapefruit, mandarin and mimosa, this fragrance is inspired by the iconic city of Southern Italy. Reggio embodies the easy-going Italian way of life – citrus trees and thousand-year old olive trees grow, facing its Reggio’s legendary bay, whilst Calabrese mandarin fills the orchards with its perfume. The idyllic scent of this city is captured within this striking looking candle which is housed in a midnight blue vessel with golden Cire Trudon label – I definitely can’t wait to try more candles from this brand now!

Moving on to slightly more affordable options now, another first for me is the Arum London Coconut & Lime Candle (£34.00 at ) – this candle just smells gorgeous, this scent is the perfect combination of juicy lime, balanced with notes of creamy coconut. Their candles are all hand poured and made from 100% natural paraffin-free wax, including a blend of perfumes and essential oils, and will burn for approximately 40 hours.

Arum have also just launched their new Autumn / Winter collection, containing some beautiful sounding scents such as Tea Rose & Clove, and Oats & Honey, which would be perfect for Christmas time.

I also have the Boy Smells Petal Candle (£32.00 at ) – firstly, I love the name of this brand! Boy Smells is a Los Angeles based brand, where their hand poured candles contain a blend of beeswax and coconut oil, with a braided cotton wick. The Petal Candle has a modern floral scent, balancing high notes of magnolia, tuberose and purple geranium, with the depth and warmth of golden amber and exotic musk. Not overly sweet, this is the perfect daytime candle that will work in any room of your house. In terms of packaging, I love the contrast of the black glass tumbler with the matte pink label and carton. If you like your candles to be chic, modern and minimal, this is definitely a brand to try.

I also wanted to mention Osmology, the site this candle came from. This store is basically heaven for candle fans as they stock a vast range of niche brands from across the world – take a look and I promise you won’t be disappointed!

And lastly I have a couple of large tumbler candles from the Isle of Skye Candle Company. (£18.00 at ) – again, this is another brand that creates hand made candles, using only natural soya wax – and they promise their unique combination of wax and oils gives some of the longest and cleanest burn times around, and their wicks have been specially developed to optimise the burn so that no wax is left in your glass when it has burnt all the way to the bottom.

I have the Lemongrass candle, which is made of pure lemongrass distilled straight from the plant. This scent is perfect if you’re in need of re-energising. And Pomegranate & Plum – this is a fantastically juicy fruity fragrance that’s just right for livening up your space on a daily basis.

If you’re looking for more wintery scents, Skye Candles also have plenty of options available – the Cinnamon and Ginger & Nutmeg candles sound gorgeous!

Are you a fan of scented candles? I’d love to hear what your favourites are! I hope you enjoyed my post xxx

As a blogger based near Norwich, it’s always incredibly exciting to hear about blogger events and opportunities that pop up in my local area – as these are very few and far between. So when I was invited to the opening of the new Sofology store in Norwich, and given the opportunity to choose my favourite sofa set, you can imagine how excited I was! I couldn’t wait to go along and check out their gorgeous bespoke ranges.

This amazing opportunity also came along at the perfect time for me – I’m currently panning room makeovers throughout my house, where some will be given a lick of paint and a bit of a sprucing up, and others will be given a full on decoration overhaul. Keep an eye out in the coming months for my room makeover posts 😉

So back to Sofology – a bit about the brand… Their sofas are all handmade, and promise to use only the very best materials available. They offer hundreds of different finishes in different colours and textures, as well as fine natural Italian leathers, and hand finished details such as studding, stitching and solid turned feet, so you can have your sofa made exactly how you want it.

Sofology currently offer over 200 exclusive sofa ranges that you won’t find anywhere else, and each range includes up to 30 different items, including sofas, sofa beds, corner sofas, chairs, footstools and more, making it super easy to find the right combination to fit your needs. Everything is of course safety and quality tested, allowing them to give you a generous 20 year guarantee on every range.

What makes Sofology different from other stores though, is there are no ridiculous sales and promotions – you know what I mean, the stores where the products are constantly half price (and nobody has ever seen them at ‘full’ price) – but there’s not messing around here. Sofology offer high quality sofas and fantastic service (which I personally experienced) all at a decent, fair price – permanently. Their sales people are very knowledgeable and helpful and it’s also nice to know that they don’t work on commission, so there’s no pressure for them to sell, or for you to purchase.

So we initially had a few different ranges in mind – firstly I should mention that we needed a three seater and a two seater, to replace the current old ones we have, and one of them needed to be a sofa bed, as ours is used frequently when we have people stay over.

The fact that we needed a sofa bed was helpful in a way as it narrowed down the available options. I quite liked the look of the Illusion range, and the Monarch range, but after a lot of deliberation, we decided to go for the above. The sofas on display were a light cream colour, and they were just SO soft and comfy, as well as having really deep seats that you can sink into. Ollie and I both love to lay on our sofas to watch TV in the evenings, so these were the perfect choice for us.

We chose this silver grey colour, called Medusa Silver, and I’m now waiting for confirmation of the delivery date, I’m so excited! When the sofas arrive, I’ll be sure to let you know, and when I get round to fully decorating the living room, I’ll also be blogging all about what I’m up to in terms of decoration and picking up new home accessories, so keep an eye out for these posts coming up very soon.

If you’re on the hunt for a new sofa, I highly recommend you check out Sofology’s extensive range online .

Though my wallet doesn’t allow it, I’m still a massive fan of high end fashion, especially accessories such as shoes and bags which I can’t get enough of when window shopping – if only I had the money my wardrobe would be full of so many wonderful brands! One of the designers that has caught my eye recently is Gucci, their latest collections are just so amazingly colourful, fun and eclectic, with endless amounts of contrasting prints and colours. The phrase ‘more is more’ definitely applies here.

So when I heard Gucci were unveiling their debut homeware line, Gucci Decor, I couldn’t wait to see what they’d come up with. Described as “an eclectic collection of items with which customers can dress their own spaces.” this collection is everything I’d imagined and more!

I was excited to find out that the designs are inspired by Gucci’s current fashion collections – there’s clashing colours, bold prints, and animal head motifs a-plenty. Gucci Decor’s initial launch includes a wide range of home accessories – there are practical and functional items such as chairs, tables and screens, as well as smaller home accessories including candles, cushions and trays.

As I’m sure you can imagine, these products won’t come cheap – starting from the bottom end of the scale, a candle will cost £150, up to an eye-watering £23,000 for a printed silk screen, gulp! In all seriousness though, I think these prices are pretty much to be expected, as with any high fashion house that offers home decor, you’re paying for the design, quality of materials and of course the name.

Gucci have also created four new scents for their candles and incense products –

Father’s Day is almost upon us again, and if like me, you’re not particularly prepared as yet, I have some fantastic gift ideas from luxury gifting and home accessories site Amara to share with you today. Enjoy!

For the dads that like a tipple, this Tank Whisky Decanter (£80.00) by would make the perfect gift. Made of luxurious mouth-blown glass, this contemporary decanter is finished with copper detailing for added elegance. I’ve also included the matching Low Ball Glasses (£45.00 now reduced to £38.00) by – especially made for short drinks, this pair of glasses with hand painted copper detailing match perfectly with the decanter, and would make any whiskey fan’s dream gift.

There are also plenty more products in the Tom Dixon Tank collection, including wine glasses, vases, jugs and bowls. This range is just perfect for adding a touch of luxury to your kitchen or bar area – I’d definitely recommend checking these out as there are quite a few products currently in the Amara sale, where you can save up to 50%.

If Dad’s a fan of contemporary home accessories, or maybe he might like something to jazz up his desk – this decorative Pineapple Ornament (£25.00) by could be just the ticket. Available in a selection of colours, including Grey, Gold, and Rose, this beautifully detailed ornament is crafted from stoneware and will look fantastic in any space around the house.

For the music and tech lover, I have the aGroove Bluetooth Speaker (£49.00) by – this sleek and elegant wireless speaker is compact enough to literally be placed anywhere around the house, allowing you to be able to listen to your favourite music in style – and without having do deal with unsightly cables. Kreafunk has designed this speaker with both sound and aesthetics in mind. It’s beautifully soft to the touch with rounded edges, and plays for up to 24 hours at full charge via Bluetooth. They’ve also included USB and AUX cables for ultimate ease.

And lastly for something a little different, how about this fabulously quirky Sitting Mouse Lamp (£60.00) by I have to say I absolutely love this lamp, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to include it in my write up – it’s just so fun and different! This little guy stands about 12cm tall, so he’s pretty much true to size for a large-ish mouse. He’s made of white resin, and sits nicely on the edge of a desk or mantlepiece, patiently holding a LED lightbulb – whilst looking like he’s really up to no good! There are also two other mice available, with one laying down and one standing up – how cool would they look dotted around the house!

Amara have also put together their own quiz to help you find the perfect Father’s Day gift. You can check this out below –

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had any new candles on the blog – I think this is actually the second time this year which is pretty slow going for me! This is also my first introduction to Sara Miller London, a luxury home accessory and gift brand offering sophisticated and elegant designs across a range of products. There’s quite a nice selection available on the site, including greeting cards, gift packaging, home fragrance, tableware, stationery and kitchen textiles.

Enter the enchanting world of Sara Miller London. A luxury brand with a stunning collection of designs which celebrate a love of print, pattern and colour. Sara’s design work has always been influenced by her passion for travel and a love for experiencing different cultures. From the intricate decorative henna work in Jaipur to the sensational Sakura cherry blossom in Japan, Sara loves exploring it all and bringing a piece of this inspiration back to her London studio, where she uses her unique creativity to produce truly beautiful, sophisticated and elegant designs.

I have two candles from the range of eight that are available – the Fig, Vanilla & CacaoCandle has an elegant deep blue frosted glass container with a gold lining specifically added to reflect the light and give a lovely, relaxing glow. It also has the Sara Miller London logo and dainty flower details printed around the container in gold. The fragrance is quite green and fresh, opening with a distinctive note of crisp Fig, leading to a hint of bitter Cacao, which is rounded off nicely with a warm base of Vanilla.

The other candle I have is the Sandalwood, Oud & CardamomCandle. This has the same design as the above candle (all eight have the same printing) but this is on a light grey frosted glass container. Visually I prefer the Fig, Vanilla & Cacao Candle just because the gold on navy blue container stands out really nicely and looks more appealing to me, but in terms of scent, the Sandalwood, Oud & Cardamom Candle is definitely my favourite. This fragrance opens with fresh and bright notes of Cardamom and sparkling Lemon, leading to a heart of Orange Blossom and a base of deep and rich Sandalwood and Oud. This smells like a high end heady evening fragrance to me – I love it!

I should also mention that Sara Miller London Candles are all hand poured in the UK, and made from only the finest ingredients and purest fragrances, including 100% pure soy wax which gives approximately 60 hours burn time. The candles are packaged well and are presented in high quality boxes, and mine also came in a lovely decorative outer box, which you can see in the background of my photos. This is from the Sara Miller London gift packaging range, which includes lovely bright patterned gift boxes and bags, as well as tissues and tags. If you’re a fan of giving spectacularly high-end packaged gifts, I definitely recommend you check these out.

When we moved house six months ago now (really, where has the time gone?) one of the main things that attracted me to our new house was the awesome conservatory. It’s bigger than the sitting room and is almost the full width of the house at the back. I envisioned this as my blogging haven, my workspace with sunlight coming in every direction, hopefully helping me to create some fantastic photos…

When we moved in, the conservatory had a horrible old brown carpet that had been there God knows how many years, but was otherwise open and airy, which is exactly what I wanted for my workspace. Clever me forgot to take ‘before’ photos, but I I found a picture online of what the conservatory originally looked like (above). It wasn’t that bad really, just not my style at all. There was lots of brown going on – brown carpet, brown wooden doors, brown windowsill and skirting boards, and it just had quite an old style and feel to it – which just wasn’t me at all.

I knew I wanted a white or near white, clean looking marble finish floor. But could I find marble look vinyl or laminate? No I could not. Apparently it’s not a thing – but I thought it would be really popular. I’d have liked vinyl or laminate just to keep the costs down, but as there was nothing even remotely like what I wanted available, I had to go for marble-look tiles instead.

Like I said, I wanted a light colour in a neutral or cool tone – too dark wouldn’t be right for the overall look I wanted, and too bright white and you’d literally need to wear sunglasses in there. After looking online for a long time, I finally found some tiles I liked! I ordered a couple of different samples from Walls and Floors, and after mulling them over, I ended up going with the .

As the space is pretty big, the tiles ended up costing £500- and that’s including a Black Friday discount! I waited until the weather got better to arrange the tiler to come over and lay them – and it took him four long days. Apparently they were a bit of a pain because the floor wasnt level, so he had to rectify this while he was laying them. I was SO HAPPY with the outcome I can’t even tell you. It’s exactly like I imagined it would look.

Next, I had to decide on what colour to paint the walls. I’m incredibly indecisive so this process actually took a few weeks. I went with a light peach colour which I had colour matched locally. I thought would complement the tiles well, and keep the look of the room feeling bright and clean.

We then primed and painted all the doors, windowsils and skirting boards so they were white, filled in the hairline cracks in the walls (you can see there were a lot of them) and finally painted the room…

And this is the finished product! (please ignore the dying plant, I was hoping to revive it!) I’m beyond happy with how well it all turned out!

The idea is that this half of the room (above) will be my work space. I also have a large chest of drawers and a few other bits and pieces in the room now too. And the opposite end, will be a play area for Freddy.

I’m hoping to come back with a Conservatory Makeover Part 2 very soon, as I want to add some more bits to Freddy’s area like a small table and a sofa, as well as some decorative items and wall art. I’m also looking to have curtain rails or blinds installed and hopefully some sort of sun protection on the glass ceiling to give the room some shade. So there’s still work to do, but the basis is completed now which is the main thing!

I hope you enjoyed my post – keep your eye out for more home and interior makeovers and features coming up soon! xxx

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About the Blog

Thou Shalt Not Covet… is a blog dedicated to my obsession with beautiful things, from fashion and make up, to lifestyle and travel. I will also be including product reviews, and anything else I want to share with the world!